What is Ischemic Cardiomyopathy?
Ischemic cardiomyopathy (IC) occurs when your heart muscle becomes weakened. It can result from a heart attack or coronary artery disease. In coronary artery disease, the arteries that supply blood to your heart muscle become narrowed. This can keep blood from reaching portions of your heart muscle, causing damage. If you develop IC, the left ventricle in your heart will likely become enlarged, dilated, and weakened. This inhibits your heart's ability to pump blood, which can lead to heart failure.
Symptoms:
It's possible to have early-stage heart disease with no symptoms. If blood flow becomes impaired due to coronary artery disease, you may experience:
extreme fatigue
shortness of breath
dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting
chest pain and pressure, known as angina
heart palpitations
swelling in your legs and feet, known as edema
swelling in your abdomen
cough or congestion, caused by fluid in your lungs
difficulty sleeping
weight gain
Medications:
Your doctor may prescribe medications to help ease symptoms, prevent complications, and improve your heart function. Depending on your circumstances, they may prescribe:
beta-blockers to reduce your blood pressure and heart rate
calcium channel blockers to relax and widen your arteries and lower your blood pressure
aldosterone inhibitors to lower your blood pressure, and rid your body of excess fluid to help ease symptoms such as swelling and shortness of breath
diuretics to rid your body of excess fluid, lower your blood pressure, and reduce the amount of work your heart muscle has to do
medications to control your heart rate and rhythm
blood thinners
Surgery and other procedures:
Your doctor may also recommend surgery or other procedures. For example, they may recommend:
implantation of a pacemaker, defibrillator, or both to normalize your heart rate
atherectomy to remove plaque from your arteries
angioplasty to open narrowed arteries
insertion of a stent, a device designed to hold arteries open
radiation therapy to keep your arteries clear after angioplasty
In very serious cases, your doctor may recommend coronary bypass surgery.. During this surgery, your surgeon will remove a portion of healthy blood vessel from another part of your body and reattach it near your blocked coronary artery. This allows blood to bypass the blocked artery, flowing through the new blood vessel instead.
If the damage to your heart is too great to repair, you may need a heart transplant.
Edited by AkaiBara - 8 years ago
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